Police at the location of one of the campsites just off the Te Anga Road. Photo: Dean Purcell/New Zealand Herald via Getty Images
Footage shot from the air above a section of bush cordoned off by police near Waitomo shows a large collection of items that appear to have been amassed by officers investigating campsites used by fugitive Tom Phillips and his children.
And police believe the recovered items will help them find who, if anyone, was helping Phillips avoid being found.
Phillips died following a shootout with police in the early hours of Monday. A police officer was shot multiple times and remains in hospital with significant injuries.
One of Phillips' children was detained after the shooting, and the other children were found about two kilometres from where Phillips was shot later that day.
Photo: Hayden Woodward/New Zealand Herald via Getty Images
A quad bike and a trail bike could be seen next to an air compressor, while oil and water containers, a milk bottle, hosing, tarpaulins, camping poles and even a toilet bowl lay amongst a pile of debris next to a dirt road.
Aboard a helicopter above the site, Herald reporter Michael Morrah said the location appeared to be about half a kilometre from Te Anga Rd, near Waitomo - some seven kilometres from where Phillips was shot.
Four police vehicles as well as two unmarked SUVs and a trailer encircled the equipment with about nine officers working around the site.
Photo: Dean Purcell/New Zealand Herald via Getty Images
Images of a second campsite - a short distance from where the children found - were released this week, and showed a tent and tarpaulin roof - camouflaged by netting and fern fronds - dug into the forest floor.
Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Saunders described the site as a "very grim, dimly lit area, surrounded by dense bush".
Rubbish was strewn around, with multiple empty drink containers and a number of large buckets with lids placed around the edges of the site.
Saunders said it was clear the family had help from the outside and police would be examining the items they had found.
Photo: Dean Purcell/New Zealand Herald via Getty Images
"We've got to identify, have they come from burglaries? Have people purchased them? Can we link them back to stores to see, has he stolen them or have people purchased them for him?
"Given what's occurred in terms of the attempted murder of a police officer, we think it is absolutely important that we continue to look for those people that have been supporting Tom Phillips and hold them accountable."
Once the scene examinations had been completed, the campsites would be dismantled, Waikato Acting District Commander Andrea McBeth said.
Investigators were working "at pace with poor weather forecast for the next few days".
Photo: Dean Purcell/New Zealand Herald via Getty Images
"We want to again thank the communities who have been impacted by this major operation throughout the week."
Te Anga Road would likely be reopened later on Friday.
"The events of this week are unprecedented, and we understand there has been a lot of angst amongst the community, and the investigation team is committed to leaving no stone unturned as enquiries continue."
The children, who had been living with their father in the bush for several years, were now in the care of Oranga Tamariki.
Two police vehicles and a quad bike were towed from the Te Anga Road crime scene after Tom Phillips exchanged gunfire with police early Monday morning. 09 September 2025. Photo by Hayden Woodward/New Zealand Herald via Getty Images) Photo: Hayden Woodward/New Zealand Herald via Getty Images
Police said a pile of rubbish captured in aerial photos and circulated by media outlets was "unrelated to the investigation", and all relevent material had now been removed from the area.
"The quad bike and motorbike pictured are relevant to the investigation, however the pile of rubbish in the same photo is unrelated to the investigation," police said in a statement.
WAITOMO, NEW ZEALAND - SEPTEMBER 11: Marks on the road at the location where Tom Phillips died in a shoot out with police on Te Anga Road near Waitomo. Tom Phillips and his children had been hiding for the last four years. 11 September 2025. (Photo by Dean Purcell/New Zealand Herald via Getty Images) Photo: Dean Purcell/New Zealand Herald via Getty Images
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